woodbridge. it's a two-story motel with rooms to exterior doors and exterior stairwells. a 33-year-old female clerk working in the office received a phone call purportedly from a guest who said he was locked out of his room. >> she was walking into the room and stairwell and encountered an unknown man. the man forced her to the room where she was called to to let someone in and uns there, she was knocked unconscious, rendered unconscious and apolk to him sexually assaulting her. >> although the motel has security cameras, police say because the assailant was wearing the mask, a quick survey of the video has not yielded information, which would help them establish a suspect description. there have been other incidents at or near motels in woodbridge. on november 17th, at the roadway inn on route 1 on a plot of land behind the motel, a woman walking a dog around 80 error 20:00 in the morning told police she was grabbed on her shoulder by a man. he 46-year-old woman pulled

away, the man fled. she described her assailant as a long-haired hispanic male between 30 and 35 years old with an unshaved and dirty face. this rather odd looking computer-generated sketch tried to capture the dirt on the face o. november 17th, this man was wearing a lime green jacket with blue lining and a red- hooded sweatshirt. one day later on november 18th at 9:20 in the morning back at the econolodge, a 39-year-old housekeeper said an unknown man walked into the room she was cleaning, closed door and grabbed her. she resisted and the man fled. that time the security cameras did capture suspect images which, quickly led to the arrest of 28-year-old clarence alowo of occoquan. he remains in jail and is there for not a suspect at wednesday night's attack at the icon no lodge. detectives believe that three different men were involved. one was in custody and two

remain at large. prince william police are hoping that a tipster comes forward with information. >> hopefully someone will come forward. thank you. we're following breaking news out of prince georges county, maryland. police made an arrest in a drive-by shooting that killed a 14-year-old boy and injured another man. they arrested jose rodriguez nunez, accused of shooting eliz arrayes in losedale yesterday after midnight. the drive boy happened in the 2200 block of sheridan street. rodriguez-nunez faces second- degree murder and other related charges. , an aid working at the maryland school for the death is facing charges on child sex abuse. charles taylor is charged with sexual abuse of a minor. investigators say he inappropriately touched three girl when is they spent time overnight at the columbia school. the alleged incidents happen wind 2008 and 2010. so far, the school has not made

any comments. to another big story. a momentous day for same-sex couples. today is the first day to pick up the marriage licenses. the law allowing gay marriages in maryland won't take affect until january 1st. but clerks started issuing the license today. karen gray houston has the latest for us. >> reporter: some have waited a long time for this tate. there was no stampedes to apply for the marriage licenses but a trickle. clearly same-sex marriage is a real life changer. one couple we met wants to tie the knot and realizes it's a big step. >> reporter: meet karen, the general manager of the store. sitting in the lobby of the montgomery county circuit court. show thought this day would never come. >> so excited.

i can't believe this day is here. i can't believe it. been waiting a long time. >> reporter: the longtime partner of 29 yearstions the spotlight and doesn't want to be identified. >> there is purchases and people don't believe in who we are and what we stand for and u unfortunately, they don't want this to happen. the people of maryland spoke. >> reporter: a majority of maryland voters cruised -- [ indiscernible ] effective january 1st. governor o'malley signed a proclamation thursday affirming that popular vote. attorney general doug gansler wrote a legal opinion last week that would allow gay couples to get a license before the first. >> very exciting. >> reporter: long tome clerk loretta knight has seen a lot over the years and nothing like. this there are changes even in the license itself. >> and this is the license everyone will get as of today. >> reporter: no mention of man or woman or bride or groom, now

it's party number one and party number two. for those who opt to get married in the court sey meanual room next door. >> when we do the ceremony, we're going be saying spouse to the ceremony instead of saying will you take this man, this woman or we new pronounce you husband and wife. it's spouse. >> reporter: as for karen and her spouse to be? >> is there a ring? >> there is a ring and there are two rigs and there will be two dresses and we did it together. >> reporter: ah, romance. they planning a january 11th wedding with 50 people. the reason some folks are getting licensed this early is they have to wait 48 hours for the license and, if they want to actually get married on january 1st, they will need to apply for it in advance because the court is closed for the holiday, but they could get the license beforehand and get married elsewhere, shawn? >> thank you, karen. same-sex couples can get married in the state of washington. the governor signed the law yesterday making washington the ninth state to allow same-sex

marriage, includes d.c -- including d.c. couples didn't land up outside shortly after the governor signed the law. couples were able to pick up their wedding certificates and licenses starting this morning. pot smokers are lighting up in seattle. this is a public pot party. the new law legalizing marijuana went into effect in the state today. voters approved the law in november, but the law doesn't allow people to smoke weed in public. if they get caught, they could be fined. >> if you look at everybody around here, i have never seen so many people in seattle in one vicinity like this. >> the city is not issuing fines just yet. anyone lighting up will be given a warning for now. voters in colorado approved a similar law in november legalizing marijuana. users there can only carry an ounce or less. it's a big night at the white house. the national christmas tree lighting ceremony is underway on the ellipse. the first family is set to flip the switch in a few minutes. the tradition is meant to

celebrate the holiday season and share the message of peace. the u.s. navy band, i think, just wrapping up here. sue palka is on the ellips tonight and, sue, normally, i would be asking you about the cold when you're outside like. this you have a celebration to talk about. >> reporter: we have a wonderful celebration already underway down here and i have to actual, the first family hasn't arrived yet. we can see the white house and the limos hind up. they apparently will be here in about 15 minutes, so we will be bringing you the tree lighting live when that happens. obviously, nothing it is going to happen until they get here, until fantastic entertainment already. behind me, we have the united states navy commodore band playing there, wonderful, and we had some entertainment since 4:30. weather is fantastic, sorry i have to bring up my own. i am so delighted that it's not windy. it makes it more pleasant than everyone to be out in this weather that is cooler than what we have had. and, will you believe there are about 20,000 people here and a

lot more standing behind me. everybody is looking forward to seeing this. we have a lot of great performers set to kick off this, the 90th lighting of the national christmas tree. a tradition that goes back to 1923 when calvin coolidge lit the first tree. that, again, will be happening a little bit. neil patrick harris is going to be our host this evening. i love him. he's a great performer of not only stage but screen. maybe you know him from "how i met your mother," but i also know him from doing a great job from hosting the tony's and this year's emmy awards. we're looking forward to seeing him, kenny baby faceface edmonds is going to be a performer, "american idol" winner phillip phillips is here, jason moraz, the fray and the start of the whole show here is the tree. i am going to tell you more about the tree, but it's only been in the ground here since late october. they planted it before hurricane sandy hit the east coast and it survived hurricane

sandy. maybe that is a good sign it's going stick around longer than the last one did. that is what is going on down here. the perfect weather and we wanted it to be cool. again, president the and mrs. obama and the girls have not arrived yet. when they do, the first thing is to get the tree lit. keep it here on fox 5. will? >> all right, sue, thank you. surprised to hear the limos lighting up. the walk across the street. the first family, after all. we'll see you soon. and we do have a little tree lighting history for you. the national christmas tree was placed on the e lips back in december 1923. that was the first one. on christmas eve, president calvin coolidge walkedhouse to light the tree. see, sometimes they do walk. over the years, the national christmas tree was located in sherman park, lafayette park, and on the south lawn of the white house. in 1954, it moved back to the ellipse and the traditional christmas eve lighting was moved to earlier in december. i like to hear a little bit

of history. >> yeah. >> it's interesting. the lights on the trees have changeed over the years. maybe later we'll tell you how they different this year. >> are you hinting about l.e.d. lights now? >> yes. >> yeah. >> don't give away my secret. and coming up tonight, president obama visited a virginia couple who is worried about what happened. if the -- happened if the nation goes over the fiscal cliff. >> we must never lose site of that if recovering from sandy is not a local issue but a national matter. >> and lawmakers from areas affected by sandy ask the federal government for more help. gary. >> and thank you, will. it's been cold today even with the sunshine. and, of course, sue just alluded to the fact that it's real chilly out there tonight to light the tree. it's got to be chilly when you light the tree, right? a first look at the forecast and how cold it's going to be this evening, and we'll start talking about a little cold rain coming across and coming up with the forecast. the news will continue, to to. stay with us. 

. president obama visited foster's, virginia, earlier today, pitching his plan to end the standoff over the fiscal cliff. meantime on capitol hill, lawmakers began talking about what will and won't happen if a deal can't be reached in 25 days. tom fitzgerald is following it all. tom, the president stay on the hard sell today. >> reporter: he has, shawn.

while the president has kept his distance for the most part in the face-to-face talks going behind the scenes with republicans, he spoke on the phone last night with house speaker john boehner. the spears' offer of $800 billion in new revenue is not close to the $1.2 trillion that the white house wants. the president's focus today is what will happen if no deal is reached to middle class taxpayers. president obama left the white house and headed to this house. a home in falls church where this high school teacher shares with her parents, her husband, and her son. >> this is a solvable problem. >> reporter: the trip was arranged after santana contacted the white house describe how the $2,200 more in taxes would affect her family. >> a couple thousand means a couple of months rent for this family. >> reporter: president obama said that he supports keeping the bush era tax cuts for the

middle class in place but ending them on incomes over $250,000 if there is no deal by new year's, everyone pays more. >> if this family has a couple of thousand left to spend, that translates into $200 billion of what consumer spending next year and that is bad for businesses, large and small. >> reporter: they won't support tax hikes but will support raising revenues by limiting tax deductions, closing loopholes and cutting spending. >> i think it's safe to say at that point that the president is not interested in a balanced agreement. he's not particularly interested in avoiding the fiscal cliff and he's not interested at all in cutsing any spending. >> reporter: democrats say with so much at stake from defense jobs to unemployment benefits and higher taxes on all households, republicans are simply stalling what needs to be done. >> it's apparent how this will

end. the only question is when will it end? you know, it's how long will speaker boehner make middle class families wait for relief. >> reporter: the one thing not in question is the deadline of january 1st. until then, it's anyone's guess how much the standoff will last until the deadline is blocked down. >> one of the things overshadowed by all of this are the new unemployment numbers. we're starting to get some of those now, positive numbers for- from-the labor department saying today that claims fell $25,000 last week. that is in comparison when the labor department reported 451,000 claims after hurricane sandy, shawn. >> tom fitzgerald, thank you. new jersey governor chris christie met with president obama to talk about the after math from superstorm sandy. he's pressing the white house for federal assistance to speed

up the recovery process. president obama is expected to ask congress for $50 billion in additional emergency funds for the state's heavily affected by the storm. christ eye ie was widely criticized by fellow republicans for praising the president and the federal government's response to sandy one week before election day. governor christie was not the only lawmaker asking for help. a number of lawmakers from the northwest travelled to the district and their focus is to get more help to pay to fix trains and ports that suffered from sandy. >> it was the large transit disaster in the nation's history. four out of 10 of the nation's transit riders, of the nation's transit riders have their commutes disrupted by the storm and many do today. >> what happens in our port district&affects the entire nation. our losses from superstorm send rippled through the entire

country. >> and $2.3 billion is approved to support response and recovery efforts, including $1 billion for direct assistance to the thousands of people affected by the storm. time for a look at the weather. >> not so bad tonight. as gary, you know, you said earlier, you can't have a tree lighting without cold weather and i think mother nature's delivered, wouldn't you say? >> reporter: right. would you imagine if we're doing this 73 degrees, a couple of day ago? >> yeah, like let's bring a banana boat out. >> christmas on the west coat. >> -- coast. >> right. >> and have to have the cold. with temperatures in the 40s, it's tolerable, right? and 36 degrees for

gaithersburg. dills down in the upper 30s and here in the city we're at 42 degrees right now and i think we can drop into the mid-30s or so and that is over the next few hours. the crowds are coming, though, and they're not here yet. we're still mostly clear and give them a couple more hours or so, and they'll begin to thicken up and put a lid on these dropping temperatures out there areawide and let mesho show you something, too. -- let me is show you something, too. some showers coming up here from the south-southwest and these are basically forming to the southwest of us and, as we watch this come in our direction, we're going have the possibility of a few scattered showers overnight and i think we're mostly clear at 7:00, the temperatures dropping into the mid-30s and colder in the suburbs and we just showed you

the live pictures from that christmas free lighting out there. we're going to go live to sue who is enjoying the nice balmy temperatures out there. it's got to be cold this night, doesn't it? >> wouldn't be right if it was not cold. not cold. . >> hey, guys. if you're talking to me, it's really loud out here. am i on? go ahead and yell in my ear. >> and we're in a holding pattern. it's a beautiful night and do not mind that at all. the latest word, they're going to be here at nineteen error 8:30, and -- at 5:30, and they enjoying the navy band and you didn't hear us talking about this. i haven't heard one complaint about the weather and that is great. that is loud for sure and this is what is up tonight.

we have a great performance and one of the things that neil patrick harris will do is make sure he introduces the president and the whole first family will light the tree and that is within the first 10 minutes of the arrival. and phillip phillips and the fray, which got a younger crowd down here and enthusiastic. a fun night down here for the 90th lighting of the national christmas tree. if i didn't tell you about this awhile ago, the tree came from our area, northwestern virginia and that is a 30-foot tall colorado blue spruce. >> thank you, sue and we should say the tree looks lit and i think it's going to get brighter when they flip the switch. >> yeah. coming up, why drivers who text behind the wheel in virginia can find themselves in deeper trouble. >> and were you late to work today? how this fruit truck caused a big mess on the beltway.  you won't take my life.

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. welcome back to our coverage of the national christmas tree lighting ceremony. a live look there at the stage on the ellipse. we're waiting for the first family to light up the tree. this is a live look of the christmas tree itself, by the way. we should let you know that it's an incredible tree and will be lit up with a bunch of lights this year. there are 20,000 people there, including 17,000 who win free tickets to the online lottery and they're being entertained, including -- [ indiscernible ] i believe they're being entertained by one of the former "american idol" winners. phillips phillips. that is what his name is and this is some more background. the giant spruce tree transplanted in october and that died after a year from transplant shock. another that was up for 30 years was destroyed by the winds in 2011.

and we'll breck you -- bring you that live when it happens. back to the news now. drivers who text behind the wheel could face tougher penalties in virginia. during the final meeting of the year, the virginia state crime commission proposed harsher penalties as part of the agenda. currently, ticking behind the wheel in virginia is a civil offense and they want to make it as punishable as wreckless driving. business here came to a halt in wheaton today after an suv careened into a store. the montgomery county firestores responded to the check cashing business. in the middle of the day, no one was hurt. an accident on the beltway forced drivers to two lanes earlier this morning. maryland state police say a tractor-trailer carrying boxes of pineapples overturned on i- 70. as a precaution, the crews delayed removing the tractor- trailer until after the rush

hour. coming up, d.c. police officers shifted around to deal with the rise in robberies. not everyone is happy with the move. >> plus, find out who is about to start patrolling metro stations after a rash of thefts caught on camera. >> and our coverage of the 90th annual national christmas tree lighting ceremony continues. we'll check in with sue coming up. >> hello, this is michael sergeant bruce -- [ indiscernible ] from kandahar air field, afghanistan. i would like to wish my wife danielle and my kids a merry christmas and happy new years. i will see you soon. 

. dozens of d.c. police officers working in a specialized narcotics task force are being redeployed to help fight robberies in the city. the chief said the officers will no longer work together and will, instead, be fanned out to the seven police districts, a move being slammed by the police union. paul wagner has more on that story. >> reporter: it's an elite unit made up of officers working undercover in the city investigating the drug trade and taking out street-level dealers working closely with homicide. the unit is being apparently and permanently dissolved in part to fight robberies out of the seven district stations. it's no secret that street robbers are an ever-present danger, some violent. this week, a eight-year-old girl was shot in the leg and her book band take -- bag taken.

every day, police report twitter feeds report robbery after robberies. they said a specialized robbery supression team was deployed in the city and she's looking for more help n. a statement to fox 5, chief lanier said the strike force is a street-level narcotics unit being decentralized to the several narcotics units in the districts. they will be working narcs and robberies. a short decision, chording to the fop. >> the department hasn't told anyone internally or put anything in writing as usual, we don't know where they think they going to go, but whaty that have been at -- done at the end of the day, you're safe now. we're so desperate for manpower, we're strong strip the department down to the bones. >> reporter: they brought in expertise to undercover operations that will be difficult to match. >> and they will do by-bus operations and some of the

things -- stings that took a lot of fences and people dealing with stolen property off of the street. what they were essentially is a unit and now they're going to be gone. >> reporter: although the police department reports robberies on twitter, there is no way of knowing how bad the problem is. and the computer software that drives the online crime mapping tool has been down for weeks and in recent months, police have been aggressive getting it out to the presses. posting videos of robbery suspects in hopes of closing additional cases and although we had a number of questions to dissolve the strike force, chief lanier said she was too busy to answer them and declined to make any other official available. paul in. >> all right, will. thank you. and a d.c. judge said that the teenager facing charges in a series of brutal hammer attacks is competent to stand

trial. 19-year-old michael davis is accused of killing a tourist and attacking two others with the hammer. the attacks happen this past spring in the d.c. pet worth area. the judge is ordering the teenager to stay in the hospital to undergo more mental tests. the to be's two brothers, vernon and -- two brothers play in the nfl. and to a story you saw first on fox 5. the guardian angels will begin patrolling metro stations following a fight and cell phone robbery last weekend. this is video of the robbery caught on camera by one of the suspects. the group that calls itself the 44th street crew is taking responsibility for the attack and uploaded the video on youtube. the guardian angels say they will patrol metro's grown error line every friday and saturday night from 11:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. to deter more violent crimes. metro riders will want to add to their commute this weekend. sidelined stations will be closed for scheduled track work. beginning friday night, tacoma,

silver spring, and the other stations will close and will remain shut down for sunday. on the green line, buses will replace strains between archives and the waterfront stations and there will be no yellow line service between fort taunton and archives. our live coverage of the tree-lighting ceremony continues. things are behind schedule. we're waiting for the first family to wait for the stage. they'll dot honors of flipping the switch to light the christmas tree on the ellipse. sue palka is there in the middle of it all. sue. >> reporter: hello, shawn. you know what never gets old? watching the president arrive. he's not come out but the motorcade pulled up about five, six minutes ago, and i understand from marjorie hall, who is close by here, we're a couple of minutes away from having the first family come on out and we're going to get everything started. in the meantime, the crowd has been on their best behavior. maybe the first family had to run late, too and it's probably

not because the cancer real was not done yet, for sure. we have a wonderful party lined up here and one of the things happening is a president and his daughters and i look forward to seeing them, we'll come to light the tree. we're minutes away and i'll give you a heads up. we'll get that going and you won't miss any of us here on fox 5. fun to be down here for the 90th lighting of the national christmas tree and which should happen in the next five to 10 minutes. shawn? >> looking forward to it. and we're waiting for our producer to get into our ear and say go back to the tree. [ laughter ] >> and hopefully we'll get it for you live. >> yes. coming up on the 5, the latest on low pregnancies. good news here kate middleton leaves the hospital as prince charles folks -- pokes fun at the prank call. call. 

. a live look right now on the ellipse where the celebrations continue for the lighting of the national christmas tree. the u.s. navy band playing right now. the first family will flip the switch in a matter of minutes. sue palka just reported to us

that the president should be arriving any moment now. we will bring that to you live in just a few minute when is we check back with sue. kate middleton has been released from the hospital, being treated for a severe form of morning sickness. she left the hospital with this morning with her husband prince william. they were all smiles as they walked out. looks like she's got some niceiely flowers there. the couple is expecting their first baby, but there is no word yet on a do you date. the prince of wails is thrilled to become a grandfather. the second in line to the throne is sharing his excitement over the new royal baby on the way. at first, he poked fun at the radio dj who placed the prank phone call to the hospital to get the latest scoop on the dutchesss condition. >> what is your reaction to the news about the duke and dutchess of cambridge? >> how do you know i'm not the radio station?

>> very nice. -- a granddaughter. [ indiscernible ] >> he joked about old age and has a good sense of humor. the royals have been a target of hoaxes before. a canadian dj called the queen pretending to be the canadian prime minister. >> as if the press are not following them already. now they can't go anywhere. >> yup. the national tree lighting ceremony is in full swing. let's go back out live here and you're waiting for the first family to show up. when it happens, we'll bring it to you live on the 5. >> and get ready to say goodbye to the sunshine. gary's back with the extended forecast. welcome to chevy's year-end event.

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national christmas tree lighting celebration is in full swing. you're looking at kenny "babyface" edmonds performing to the crowd of 20,000 people. sue palka is there live with the latest. sue? >> reporter: hey, will. it's so loud right now. how much fun are we having listening to kenny "babyface" edmonds. he's the first act tonight at the tree lighting ceremony. and -- and i expect him to come out as soon as the performance is over. one of the first things that will happen is the tree will be lit. and we're up and underway. a little delayd this year and that is -- to keep the fun going. and keep an eye on them and we anticipating the president and first lady and first daughter and grandma will be coming on out after the performance and

back to you. >> i am sure she loves that. the first grandma. probably what the kids call her. >> absolutely. >> and probably. jot first granny? >> and they probably call -- probably call her grandman. >> yes. and the good thing is when the president arrives to the event, there is plenty of warning. the secret service shows up and we should have some warning. >> let him walk over, apparently. >> no. >> and to get in the car and drive. >> they walk to church but shuttle them. >> you have to do that and it's cold out there, getting colder, too. the wind's not blowing and that is going to be good. and that is good for everyone. the lucky ones who got to be out there for the tree lighting. we're going to see changes coming up, okay, and that is going to be, to put it mildly, it's going to be complicated the next 12 hours or so and

what is going to happen. no worries for us but it's going to be tricky and with that 42. dills, 48; winchester, down to freezing at 34 there and hagerstown, 38; fredericksburg into the 30s as well and we're mostly clear now. the temperatures are dropping under the clear skies. by 9:00, by 8 or 9:00 or so, the clouds will start to thicken a bit, and that is going start to hold the temperatures where they are and that looks like overnight tonight, we'll be steady in the 30s by 11:00. it's just going to be mostly cloudy to cloudy. there is a chance for some spotty showers coming in overnight tonight. it should not be a big deal for most of us because we should stay above freezing and the the roadways are fairly warm with where we have been and the sunshine today, the temperatures into the 40s.

there are a few advisories. those are freezing rain advisories. nothing fresh in the metro. i don't anticipate anything for us in the metro. there could be a few more counties added to. this right now it's just over the border end of pennsylvania and then up into central pennsylvania. the thought here is the temperature may be able to get down cold enough to right around freezing. we have a few spotty showers coming around in through overnight tonight, and that could mean a little bit of, i don't think again it's a big deal, we'll watch the temperatures closely. the clouds are beginning to move in now, and can you see in southwestern sections of virginia and southern sections of west virginia, we're beginning to see some rain forming and that is going to come on across. the problem is we're so dry at the lower levels and this is trying to fall on top of us overnight tonight. a lot of it will more 13 likely evaporate. i don't anticipate problems whatsoever and farther to the

west and to the northwest, late this evening and overnight, there could be a couple of places you were the gun and that is something we will watch with temperatures later on. tomorrow, we're cool. and the rain will stay away and that is some limited sunshine if any and that is not a lost sunshine and this those advisores again are for southern and central secs of pennsylvania. and nothing for maryland, nothing for virginia and in town, temperatures will stabilize in the mid-30s with the clouds and i anticipate tomorrow morning, 39 degrees and that is cloudy. a few breaks allowing sunshine and not much with temperatures warmer than today. 51 degrees or so and some more

sunshine on saturday and that temperature of 63 degrees and into the 50s on sunday and with that spotty shower or two. monday, mid- to upper 60s and we probably have a tree lighting here. >> exactly. >> and let's look live at the ellipse tonight where the national christmas tree lighting celebration is in full swing. there they are, the first family. >> it's great to see you all. happy holidays, happy holidays to you, mr. president. >> happy holidays. >> is it time? >> i think it's time. >> for the big button. >> and count it down here. >> and i mean everyone's ready and we have to do the countdown starting with 5. five, four,

three, two, one! >> ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at the national christmas tree lit up there by the first family. just to give you a history, on the decorations you're looking at, they were put together by hardway inc, a local company based out of atlanta, maryland. they have been doing this a long time and decorated the 56 state trees, the territorial trees that are the ring around the main tree there and this year's design features 450 designs of 100 red green and twinkling lights. >> l.e.d. lights, so environmentally correct lights and that is the only kind you of lights can you buy now at the stores and this is a new prise is spruce. new to the ellipse. the previous tree died a year

from transplant shake year ago. before, that a tree that stood for 30 years was destroyed by wind in february 2011. >> go ahead. >> and to give you more details on the decorations there, hopefully the camera will pull back. i wondered how the decorations look like that and they actually build a mesh around the tree and to weigh it down and that is so fragile. 4,000-watts of electricity from year's past and can you see the difference in the light there. >> and that is some pepco girl, right? and we should tell you there are 56 smaller decorated trees surrounding the national christmas tree reprinting the 50 states, 5 territories and, of course, the district of columbia andel that burst into line here.

one of the president's, nearly 400 national parks. >> i believe right now they giving the holiday blessing, followed by a performance by r&b singer legacy and by "american idol"'s own phillip phillips. keep it here on fox 5 as the coverage of the national christmas tree lighting ceremony continues. continues. coming up, we're monitoring metro for you. drousy drivers behind the wheel at metro. we investigate what is behind the widespread fatigue. and then a lockout leads to lackluster sales. how the nhl feud is fueling frustrations and among some d.c. business owners. and making christmas unique for some very special children. we join us coming up at 6. [ kitt ] you know whatat's impressive?

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♪ . a sad day for family and

friends of the man killed in a new york city subway. on monday, police say a homeless man pushed another man in front of the platform in front of the oncoming train. it was caught on camera and appears they got into an argument before the tragedy. the homeless man is now facing murder charges. the pittsburgh video zoo is taking down the observing a death where the boy fell and got mauled by dogs. the wild dog exhibit is still closed. >> a virginia woman facing animal cruelty charges is given the okay to continue rung the animal shelter at michael vick's dog fighting compound. she was charged with animal cruelty after complaints that 10 dogs were not being taken care of property. the state gave her permission to continue running the shelter until the trial begins next month. thank you for joining us at 5. in fact six starts now.

we're monitoring metro. they're not getting enough sleep, even after millions of riders depend on them. some bus drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel and turns out that some employees were working long hours. a new study by the transit agency shows the real problem might be the shift they work. sherri ly is monitoring metro and joins us with what she's uncovered. >> reporter: metro has managed to trim some of the excessively long hours workers have been doing and it still has a problem and that seems to boil down to not getting enough sleep. it all started with concerns about safety. metro bus and rail workers and critical jobs working numerous double shifts even longer. an analysis of more than 3,000 bus and rail operators found